Patient educationUser testing
Digital Teammate
A bilingual AI assistant for patients preparing for surgery
Digital Teammate is a bilingual English–French AI assistant designed to give patients clear, on-demand answers before and after surgery using hospital-approved information.
Why it matters
Patients often receive complex surgical instructions across multiple appointments, professionals, and documents, making it hard to find clear and consistent answers when questions arise.
About the project
Preparing for surgery can be overwhelming. Patients must navigate instructions about fasting, medications, hospital arrival, anesthesia, and recovery, yet this information may be spread across appointments, healthcare professionals, and written materials. Misunderstandings can lead to safety risks, delays, and cancellations. Language barriers and limited appointment time can make it even harder to obtain clear answers when questions arise.
Digital Teammate is a bilingual English–French digital assistant designed to provide accessible, on-demand education for people preparing for surgery. Patients can ask questions using text or voice through an on-screen avatar. Rather than searching the open internet, where information may be outdated, inaccurate, or not aligned with the hospital's practices, Digital Teammate uses hospital-approved documents to prepare its responses and shows the sources supporting its answers. It is intended to complement, not replace, conversations with healthcare professionals.
Patients, healthcare professionals, and technical experts helped shape the tool through several rounds of development and feedback. The version evaluated in this study covered two surgical pathways, total knee replacement and cervical mediastinoscopy, and drew from 33 institutional documents. Thirty-five healthcare workers and 23 patient participants tested the system. Overall, they rated its communication positively and viewed the tool as promising, while also identifying areas for improvement, including how it explains risks and benefits, incorporates multimedia, provides supportive responses, and maintains value over repeated interactions.
The team's next steps are to refine the platform and have clinicians systematically evaluate the accuracy, completeness, and safety of its responses before testing it with patients in clinical settings. Ultimately, Digital Teammate aims to make perioperative education more consistent, accessible, and responsive while keeping healthcare professionals at the centre of patient care.
One project, informed by a wider field of research.
CAPITAL's research themes connect projects to patient understanding, clinical fit, safety, equity, evidence, and responsible implementation.
Explore the research themes